The Dispatch E-Edition

All current subscribers have full access to Digital D, which includes the E-Edition and
unlimited premium content on Dispatch.com, BuckeyeXtra.com, BlueJacketsXtra.com and
DispatchPolitics.com.
Subscribe
today!

More Articles

State health officials say they are again ready to try to enact new septic standards, six years
after their most-recent attempt.

Rules that Ohio Department of Health officials hope to enact by May would require adequate
amounts of soil in different regions of the state to treat home sewage. If soil is deemed
inadequate for a new or replacement septic system, homeowners would have to install more-expensive
treatment equipment or additional soil.

Similar changes enacted in 2007 were rescinded after homebuilders and several state lawmakers
complained that they were too expensive. They argued that the rules would increase the cost of a
standard system to as much as $32,000. The new rules would offer homeowners lower-cost options,
said Rebecca Fugitt, manager of the Ohio Department of Health’s residential water and sewage
program. “Now, there is almost an unlimited combination of options.”

Data from state health officials show that 4,031 new septic systems were installed statewide in
2012. More than half were standard septic systems that cost an average of $7,446.

In counties with more-stringent standards, 1,423 alternative systems were installed at costs of
$9,682 to $12,125.

Costs for the remaining 426 homes ranged from $16,365 to $20,740.

Of the highest-cost systems, “Those are people who want to build on wooded ravines or in places
where there is a steep slope,” Fugitt said.

The new standards are intended to protect public health and water quality. Raw sewage contains
harmful bacteria and viruses that can sicken people and poison waterways.

Most septic systems rely on soil to finish treating sewage released from tanks. But Ohio’s
septic-tank law, enacted in 1977, did not set a clear standard for how much soil is needed.

A 2012 state survey of local health departments estimated that 31 percent of a reported 628,493
septic systems across Ohio leak sewage into streams and groundwater.

The new rules would not force homeowners to replace working systems, Fugitt said. The rules
would apply to new houses and replacements for failed septic systems.

In most areas of Ohio, 6 inches to 18 inches of soil are needed to treat sewage, Fugitt said.
That’s much less than a minimum 2 feet of soil that the 2007 standards required. Where soil is
deemed inadequate, standard septic systems could be altered to include such things as additional
tanks or mounds of landscaped sand and soil.

Though the new soil requirements are not as stringent as the 2007 standards, they are still a
big improvement, said Karen Mancl, a sewage and water-quality expert at Ohio State University.

The state’s standards won’t cause changes for Franklin County health officials, who said they’ve
required soil analyses for new and replacement systems since 2007.

Franklin County Public Health approved permits for 36 new septic systems this year and for two
replacement systems, said Charlie Broschart, an agency division manager.

As the Ohio Department of Health prepares to forward the rules for a legislative panel’s review,
one potentially powerful opponent already is on board.

“We signed off on the whole thing some time ago,” said Vince Squillace, vice president of the
Ohio Home Builders Association.